Is it time to take a look at LinkedIn?

Editor

There are 1.5 million healthcare professionals on LinkedIn. A wide range of healthcare organizations have tapped into this pool for physician recruiting with some declaring it their primary method going forward. Despite this, Pharma has largely remained on the sidelines.

In its most basic form, LinkedIn has the ability to support targeted advertising based on information contained in user profiles. For example, according to LinkedIn, there are:

81,000 people who list themselves as a physician

43,000 listed as medical specialist

37,000 who identify themselves as doctors

37,000 employed as clinical specialists

21,000 who are residents or resident physicians

LinkedIn also supports targeting based on education qualifications and other criteria.

At first blush, running a display ad to 80,000 targets may seem like a waste of time.

LinkedIn, however, partners with the Google double click Ad Exchange. This partnership allows you to identify targets based on their job function and market to them across Google’s network on a CPC basis. When you consider the possibility of Google supported capabilities like retargeting to increase engagement and conversion, there certainly seems to be the potential to make a sparsely visited HCP website a lot more productive.

The future?

Rightfully so, Pharma has been cautious in its approach to Facebook and other social platforms when it comes to HCPs. This should also be the case for LinkedIn. The potential for private Pharma LinkedIn groups supporting HCP brand and disease marketing warrants some regulatory (MRL) scrutiny. However, the professional nature of LinkedIn would intuitively make it a safer place to play for Pharma brands seeking to engage HCPs.

Take a look at LinkedIn, when you peel back the layers you may find a good source of HCP access.

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